(1) Management actions under a biodiversity stewardship agreement for which biodiversity credits may be created (including on declared areas of outstanding biodiversity value) are taken to be exempt development for the purposes of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. The regulations may exclude any management actions from the operation of this subsection.

(2) For the purposes of section 76(3) of that Act, a reference to the environmental planning instrument in respect of any such exempt development is taken to be a reference to the biodiversity stewardship agreement.

(3) A biodiversity stewardship agreement is not a regulatory instrument for the purposes of section 28 of that Act.